Dan Haren and the bullpen pitched the A's to a huge win last night, beating their Wild Card rival Indians 2-0 while the Angels were being shut down by the Mariners. Making up ground on all three teams they're competing with (the Yankees were idle) is a good day for Oakland, especially since the offense only mustered two runs. I'll still say, though, and not with much creativity, that if the offense doesn't start clicking, the playoffs will be TV material for the second straight year.

Come on, Bobby Crosby! Heal up! I've got nothing against Marco Scutaro (who did a good offensive job last night), but he's not quite the threat you are.

I went to college in September of 1999, which was the year the A's arrived on the scene before making four straight playoff appearances. I was out of school in the fall of 2003, but the A's held on to get to the post-season, probably because I had just graduated while they were beginning their season and they were a little confused about my status.

Last year, though, I spent their entire baseball season as a teacher, so they weren't able to hang on against the Angels.

This year, however, I've gone back to school! The question, then, is whether 2005 will be like 1999, where I've entered school too late to actually push the A's into the playoffs, or whether the team will realize that they can't waste this year because I've only got three years in law school to support them with my mojo.

Don't believe in all this stuff? The A's struggles at the beginning of the year were because they weren't sure of my status: I didn't announce to my fellow-teachers that I was leaving for law school until the middle of the spring. Figure that there was a two-month-long lag (which is reasonable) for the news to travel from New York to Oakland and you've got your reason for Oakland's June explosion.